Mario Alioto, 2015 honoree for the San Francisco Ball of the Year, visited Boys' and Girls' Towns with his wife Kelly in February. Mario has been involved with Boys' Town in San Francisco for several years and knows BGTI's history. As he says, "until you put real faces and names to the story, it is impossible to understand the true essence of love and hope that exists there. It is simply a very special place that provides a sense of worth and hope for a bright future to so many boys who, in most cases,travelled to Italy from other countries looking for a safe place to call home.

Boys' Town offers what governments and countries cannot...and when someone cares about you, the goals and opportunities all seem within reach. That's the magic of what Boys' Town is all about." To read Mario Alioto's full story about his trip to Boys' and Girls' Towns visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/boystownsofitaly.

In January, Meg Karraker, a Professor of Sociology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, travelled with a group of 19 students from her class "Families in Italian Society" and spent a morning at Boys' Town. Professor Karraker reports, "I have brought students to Boys' Town and have visited Girls' Town on other previous visits, but I'm never quite prepared for the impact Boys' Town, the dedicated staff, and the mission of the place have on the students in my courses.

Students leave amazed, but I have to say also inspired, at the very idea that children and youth from such hard circumstances can self-govern. Further, the motto of founder Monsignor Carroll-Abbing strikes them as something they can carry into their own life missions: 'The great lesson of life, the secret of happiness, is to love, and the essence of love is to serve.'"

Source: Boys’ & Girls’ Towns of Italy